New trace fossils from the Miocene of Northland, New Zealand: Rorschachichnus amoeba and Piscichnus waitemata

Additional discoveries of well‐preserved trace fossils in the Miocene Waitemata Group of Northland, New Zealand, have permitted recognition of two new ichnotaxa. Rorschachichnus amoeba is a small, crudely globose trace fossil of irregularly reticulate outline. It is interpreted as a mining trace, possibly by a small meiofaunal arthropod progenitor, and is typically associated with the Nereites ichno‐facies that is characteristic of flysch sequences. Piscichnus waitemata is a large, plug‐shaped trace fossil, considered to be an analog of modern eagle ray (elasmobranch) foraging pits, and is conspicuous in shallow‐marine deposits.